With apologies to James Earl Jones and W.P. Kinsella, the one constant through all the years has not been baseball.
When Kinsella made the claim in his book “Shoeless Joe” and Jones made it famous in the movie adaptation “Field of Dreams,” it was true. It was before Bud Selig canceled the World Series and Rob Manfred went on a rules rampage to completely change the game.
The true constant, at least for the past century, has been high school football.
It has always been there, if not last year in Hawaii because of the pandemic, and remains an 11-on-11 contest of community pride.
It has had its share of changes, of course. Passing for 300 yards means less than it did and rushing for 100 means a little bit more, but when guys like Kaiser’s Easton Yoshino and Kamakana Mahiko break school records that were set before they were born — as they did on Friday — it hits home way more than Corbin Burnes or Aaron Nola striking out 10 batters in a row.
There are much older school football records out there for the taking, held by state legends like Ed Kini, Adrian Murrell and Mark Atuaia. The oldest school record that can be found on Hawaiiprepworld.com belongs to one of those legendary names — Bernard Rembert of Radford with 194 receiving yards in a 1967 preseason contest.
Rembert and his Radford Rams traveled to Maui for a preseason test against Lahainaluna a week after beating Punahou. The hosts led by a touchdown with just over a minute left at the Kahului Fairgrounds and buried Radford at its own 2-yard line with a punt. Rams quarterback Jack Wyatt responded by hitting Rembert for a 98-yard score to tie it, and Lau Noa converted the extra-point kick for a 27-26 victory.
Wyatt and Rembert hooked up three times for 194 yards that day, and more than a half-century later it stands as a program record. Rembert held the OIA rushing record until Mark Atuaia of Kahuku came along in 1990. Radford throws the ball way more than it did back in those dark ages, but not even talents like Shawn Putnam-Curry or Absolom Henry could knock Rembert off the top of the school’s charts.
I wouldn’t consider Rembert’s mark unbreakable, even though it has lasted the longest. That honor might go to the second-oldest, with Saint Louis legend Ed Kini compiling 283 rushing yards in a win over ‘Iolani way back in 1973. In all of the time and with all of the titles since the little guy’s big day, no Saint Louis player has come within 70 yards of his mark. Adam Noga is the only Crusader to run for more than 200 yards since 1999, doing it twice and topping out at 208.
Waialua’s Burton Coloma is another legend with a school record that seems unbreakable. He had 247 receiving yards against Leilehua in 1974, the closest a Bulldog has come since is 214 by Donovan Matas in 2006.
Some of the ancient marks have been put on notice this year. Kahuku legends Walter Santiago and Uli Abbott have held the school’s single-game passing (325 yards in 1987) and receiving (188 yards in 1984) records forever, but the Red Raiders seem more serious about the passing game this year than they usually are. Jason Mariteragi threw for 228 against Waianae on Saturday and Liona Lefau caught 95 of them. It has been just a matter of time for a long time, but Mariteragi might actually be the one to make it come to pass.
These records are not definitive. They are just performances that had been reported to a newspaper and culled from a library. Even with Rembert’s big day, there was no box score to document it. But his performance was so impressive it was written into separate game stories and the yardage matched. Bingo.
For Rembert that night was probably just another win, not something a history buff would be celebrating a half-century later. It turned out to be a bad thing for the “Ram-Jet,” as he faced double- and triple-teams during the OIA season and wasn’t even first-team OIA — Kahuku’s Junior Ah You led the loop in receiving — before he became the best player in the league in his senior year and one of the best ever.
We don’t know how long the game will survive if it can’t solve its concussion crisis, but it remains the biggest game in town with the deepest history waiting for the next Bernard Rembert to add to it.
LONG-STANDING RECORDS
Oldest single game Oahu football records on hawaiiprepworld.com
1. Bernard Rembert, Radford receiving, 1967, 194 yards
2. Ed Kini, Saint Louis rushing, 1973, 283 yards
3. Burton Coloma, Waialua receiving, 1974, 247 yards
4. Nicasio Rediros, Castle rushing, 1978, 249 yards
5. Uli Abbott, Kahuku receiving, 1984, 188 yards
6. Walter Santiago, Kahuku passing, 1987, 325 yards
6. Adrian Murrell, Leilehua rushing, 1987, 332 yards
8. John Santiago, Damien receiving, 1988, 169 yards
9. Mark Atuaia, Kahuku rushing, 1990, 350 yards
10. Andrew Kamanao, Roosevelt passing, 1991, 481 yards
10. Albert Sabog, Kalani receiving, 1991, 300 yards
